A British serviceman killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan told his parents the armoured vehicle he later died in was a ‘coffin on wheels’.

Acting Corporal Marcin Wojtak, 24, lost his life when the Vector light troop carrier he commanded was blown up by a 40lb improvised explosive device (IED).

He had sent emails to his family from the frontline complaining his unit was being ‘put at risk’ by having to patrol in vehicles with insufficient underfloor protection.

The gunner had been due to pick up a sturdier armoured Mastiff vehicle the day after his death in October 2009.

Cpl Wojtak’s unit was patrolling in the desert south of Camp Bastion, the main British base in southern Afghanistan, when a blast ripped through his Vector.

His mother accused the Government of the ‘catastrophic failure’ of its servicemen at the end of an inquest into his death this week.

Before deploying to Helmand, Cpl Wojtak, who served with 34 Squadron RAF Regiment, had assured his family he would be driving a Mastiff which could withstand small explosions.

Instead, he was given a Vector to help carry out his regiment’s role, which was to provide security outside the perimeter of Camp Bastion and ensure aircraft coming in to land were safe from insurgents.

Cpl Wojtak’s father told the three-day inquest at Loughborough Coroner’s Court that his son used to describe the Vectors as ‘coffins on wheels’, and had emailed from the base to express anger at having to use them for patrols.

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‘It was even to the point of gross disgruntlement that they were being exposed in this way,’ Mr Wojtak said. ‘The general feeling was they were being put at risk.’

'Coffin on wheels': A Vector armoured vehicle similar to the one being driven by Corporal Wojtak when the bomb exploded in Helmand Province

A fleet of Mastiff vehicles on display at Camp Bastion in 2007. The stronger vehicles replaced the Vectors, which were only capable of withstanding a 10 kilo blast

After the inquest, Cpl Wojtak’s
mother Teresa Woods, 53, a teacher, said: ‘It’s not surprising that
someone met their death in a Vector. This vehicle was no longer suitable
to deal with the increased threats of Afghanistan, and that was
acknowledged as well.

‘I feel there has been a catastrophic failure by the Government to meet the requirements for our troops.’

She attacked the decision to send the
troops on patrol before they collected the 28-ton Mastiff. ‘I am
bitterly disappointed that they could not wait another day,’ she said.

The Government had announced in May
2009 it was phasing out the Vector trucks from frontline patrols – five
months before Cpl Wojtak’s death. But they were still in use in October
when he died, during his fourth tour of duty in Afghanistan.

Remote: British soldiers return from a mission to camp Bastion, the base there Corporal Wojtak was stationed, in the southern province of Helmand, Afghanistan (file picture)

Giving evidence to the inquest,
Corporal David Hayden, who was part of the patrol, said troops elsewhere
in Helmand received Mastiffs as a priority because they were being hit
by IEDs four or five times a day. The RAF Regiment had been struck twice
in two months.

Wing Commander Shaun Ryles, Cpl
Wojtak’s commanding officer, said the patrol ‘could not be delayed’ for
the Mastiffs because his men had a vital role protecting the airfield.

He said: ‘There was potential leading
up to an attack on an aircraft. By delaying that patrol, even by a day,
the insurgent is winning and I cannot allow that to happen. You have to
take risks.’